Booking BA flights through Asia Miles
Aug 15, 2018, 12:07 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: QF, VA, CX
Posts: 87
Booking BA flights through Asia Miles
Up until now I have booked J rewards with QFF, including several 280K J One World awards. We will be booking ZRH-LHR-SYD in a few weeks for the date we return home to Australia as soon as seats are released. I have an Asia Miles account but haven't booked any rewards flights with them before.
With QFF it will be 139,000 points each and with CX Asia Miles it will be 90,000 points. I can transfer points from my Amex Platinum Charge card for the 180K points we'll need and today I transferred 5,000 points to AM to check that the transfer will go through without any problems and I can then transfer the rest that I need.
I've just phoned the Asia Miles Service Hotline to enquire about the taxes that would be charged for the flights that are showing as available today - Sun 04 Aug 2019, when I log in to AM and do a ZRH-SYD search. I see 3 options with BA713, BA715 and BA717 connecting to BA15 as available but of course when I click "Next" to book it says that I don't have enough miles. I was told that although I can see flights for 4 August when I log in I wouldn't be able to book until tomorrow since you can only book 353 days out. I know that this is now the case with CX flights since the June 22 changes but BA release 354 days out and I would have thought that if I see these flights when logged in to my account that I should be able to book if the required amount of points are in the account.
If it turns out that I have to wait until the next day to book a BA flight with AM the odds are that the flights I need will be gone by then since LHR-SYD flights usually go the same day they are released. Has anyone had any experience booking BA flights through Asia Miles since the June changes? If so, have you seen that BA flights can be booked if you see them as available? I don't want to transfer the points and then find that I can't book on the date the BA flights we need are released.
Regarding the taxes - I know the tax amounts can vary depending when you book but I was quoted 4,379 HKD (approx $A774 each) for ZRH-LHR-SYD with BA and when I had checked the cost with QFF a month or so back the price was 357.50CHF (approx $A498 each) so I was surprised that the taxes CX are charging are so much more than QFF for the BA flights (I do realise that BA taxes are amongst the highest of all airlines), but with the points difference of 180K with AM and 278K with QFF it will still be worth booking through AM if I can book the flights on the day that BA release them.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
With QFF it will be 139,000 points each and with CX Asia Miles it will be 90,000 points. I can transfer points from my Amex Platinum Charge card for the 180K points we'll need and today I transferred 5,000 points to AM to check that the transfer will go through without any problems and I can then transfer the rest that I need.
I've just phoned the Asia Miles Service Hotline to enquire about the taxes that would be charged for the flights that are showing as available today - Sun 04 Aug 2019, when I log in to AM and do a ZRH-SYD search. I see 3 options with BA713, BA715 and BA717 connecting to BA15 as available but of course when I click "Next" to book it says that I don't have enough miles. I was told that although I can see flights for 4 August when I log in I wouldn't be able to book until tomorrow since you can only book 353 days out. I know that this is now the case with CX flights since the June 22 changes but BA release 354 days out and I would have thought that if I see these flights when logged in to my account that I should be able to book if the required amount of points are in the account.
If it turns out that I have to wait until the next day to book a BA flight with AM the odds are that the flights I need will be gone by then since LHR-SYD flights usually go the same day they are released. Has anyone had any experience booking BA flights through Asia Miles since the June changes? If so, have you seen that BA flights can be booked if you see them as available? I don't want to transfer the points and then find that I can't book on the date the BA flights we need are released.
Regarding the taxes - I know the tax amounts can vary depending when you book but I was quoted 4,379 HKD (approx $A774 each) for ZRH-LHR-SYD with BA and when I had checked the cost with QFF a month or so back the price was 357.50CHF (approx $A498 each) so I was surprised that the taxes CX are charging are so much more than QFF for the BA flights (I do realise that BA taxes are amongst the highest of all airlines), but with the points difference of 180K with AM and 278K with QFF it will still be worth booking through AM if I can book the flights on the day that BA release them.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Last edited by koz; Aug 15, 2018 at 12:12 am
Aug 15, 2018, 2:54 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: QF, VA, CX
Posts: 87
Thanks for checking that percysmith. I will be able to book online when I transfer the points from Amex to AM. I haven't redeemed any award flights from AM before so phoned to ask about taxes etc. and gave her these flights as an example of what I'll be wanting to book in a few weeks when our dates are released. It's just that the lady I spoke to at AM told me that even though I could see those flights today online I wouldn't be able to book it until tomorrow. I thought that may not be correct and you've confirmed it for me. I've read that CX flights are now released 353 days out for standard awards compared to the 360 days it was previously and that may be what she was thinking. I wouldn't have expected that BA flights would show there if you couldn't book them yet.
Last edited by koz; Aug 15, 2018 at 3:15 am